Maya Erskine, of ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith,’ Thinks She Would Make a Good Spy

“What would happen if James Bond had a blister?” Maya Erskine wondered recently.

Erskine, 36, an actor and writer, has been thinking of hypotheticals like these ever since Donald Glover (“Atlanta,” “Swarm”) approached her about starring in “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” the reboot of the 2005 action comedy.

That film, which starred Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, was a stylized, sexed-up spy story, in which newlyweds discover that each is an operative assigned to assassinate the other. This eight-episode series, created by Glover and the writer Francesca Sloane, arrives on Amazon Prime Video on Feb. 2. It trades some of that sex for a more faithful approach to marriage and espionage.

The new John and Jane Smith, played by Glover and Erskine, are spies hired by a shadowy organization to pose as a married couple. (Phoebe Waller-Bridge was initially announced as Glover’s co-star, but she left in 2021, citing creative differences.) While completing high-risk missions and racking up casualties, John and Jane are also achieving various relationship milestones — first date, first kiss, first vacation. Blisters and other minor injuries abound, as well as conversations about annoying eating habits and gas.

Erskine, best known as a creator of the Hulu comedy “PEN15,” in which she starred as a heightened version her seventh-grade self, was grateful or this less glamorous version. “It’s easier for me to not have to try to be attractive, because then I don’t fail,” she said. Then again, having spent three seasons in a bowl cut, almost any role would have felt chic by comparison. She also said that she thought that she and Glover were only average-looking, which was sweet.

During a video call from her sunlit Los Angeles home, Erskine, snacking on saltines, discussed acting, espionage and how the show, which begins and ends with multiple homicides, is essentially marriage propaganda. (The couple that slays together stays together?)